Sunny appeared in Noctis Sanctuary beside the altar. He looked around at the pool from which seven streams of cold, clean water flowed. Some Awakened had gathered there, drinking from its water while waiting for their return to the waking world.
The sun had just risen over Noctis Sanctuary, which meant he had all the time to go to Shipwreck Island, even though it would take some time. He wanted to cleanse the ship that lay there from the creature living inside it and also kill the mordant Mimic.
Sunny stepped toward the outer wall of Noctis Sanctuary, passing by the Awakened who were talking with each other. He didn't want to stay long so as not to waste his time, as he had plans and work to do.
After leaving Noctis Sanctuary and getting away from it, he began moving through the shadows of the trees at a very high speed, and it wasn't long before he reached the edge of the island where the heavenly chains were located. The island in front of him was in a descending phase, which made it easier for him to move through the shadows.
After more than half a day of travel, Sunny approached Shipwreck Island but stopped before sunset. This wasn't because night was approaching but because the Island of Reckoning was directly behind him. He knew what was hiding there but hadn't decided to deal with it yet.
"This is a bit annoying… Should I kill the reflection of that child who was abused in his childhood or not?"
Sunny decided that he wouldn't do it, at least not now. The reflection was sitting on the Island of Reckoning doing nothing. If he wanted to kill him, he knew where he was. Sunny sat on the ground and took out a storage Memory containing food and drinks enough for more than a month, even some food used to satisfy soldiers in case of war.
Of course, there were no wars between humans, but the government and private corporations kept producing these foods for Awakened who went on long journeys inside the Dream Realm.
The sun disappeared, replaced by a dark sky without stars. Sunny sent his shadows to hunt any creature on this island while he rested until the sun rose and resumed his journey to Shipwreck Island. The Spell whispered in his ear, announcing the death of the first monsters as he closed his eyes and tried to sleep.
And at sunrise, Sunny woke up to the smell of blood filling the place. The Saint was standing above him with her stone sword in her hand, looking around cautiously.
Sunny resumed his journey after eating his food and preparing himself to move. The remaining distance wasn't long—it took less than an hour until he reached Shipwreck Island.
And in front of him, in the middle of the island, there was a large broken ship, surrounded by wooden planks scattered on the ground. Sunny wasn't fooled by these Nightmare creatures, but he advanced. The wooden planks trembled and turned into semi-human figures made of wood, with wooden scythes forming at their ends.
Sunny didn't bother fighting them himself but summoned the Saint, the Serpent, and the Crab to deal with them and stepped into the shadows, then appeared in the middle of the ship.
[You have slain a Fallen Beast: sailor Doll]
[Your Shadow grows stronger]
[You have slain a Fallen Beast: Sailor Doll]
[You have slain…]
The slaughter continued below, and the sounds of breaking and destruction rose. On the deck of the ship, Sunny was covering his face with a piece of cloth while looking at brown vines exuding a sweet scent, covering most of the ship.
Sunny bypassed the vines with a light movement, then entered the dilapidated cabin whose surfaces were covered with the same reddish-brown vines. He continued moving, trying not to disturb the vines as much as possible so they wouldn't lash out and tear him apart.
After leaving the cabin, he reached a wide corridor where the sweet smell grew stronger, while red algae appeared covering the vines. Sunny kept his six shadows wrapped around himself and endured the pain caused by the poisoning from the pollen and the madness of the Blood Weave trying to destroy this intruder. Sunny moved and reached the cargo hold, where the Corrupted Monster was lying. Sunny stepped into the lair of the sleeping Monster through the shadows and appeared in the middle of the cargo hold.
The vines moved lightly within the ship's structure, and all of this came from a giant mass of red algae emerging from a humanoid shape. Solvan was writhing in agony and convulsing; vines were emerging from her mouth, stomach, chest, and ears. The vines moved as they sensed Sunny, but he was faster.
Sunny moved to one corner of the cargo hold, and at the top of the wall, there was a gap surrounded by a mass of red algae twisted at a strange angle as if avoiding something. When Sunny reached there, he raised his hand upward and grabbed what was inside the gap. His hand closed around a wooden shard hidden in the gap—or, upon closer inspection, it was a wooden knife.
Sunny gripped the wooden knife tightly, then lunged toward the vines heading toward him. He wasn't affected, as he summoned [Promise of Solace] in his other hand and slashed through the thick vines with all his might. He reached the heart of the vine mass where Solvan was staring at him with terrifying emptiness, but when she glimpsed the knife, her gaze… showed pleading and gratitude? He plunged the knife into her heart. Sulvan's eyes filled with indescribable relief, then the look of salvation vanished and was replaced again by emptiness.
The vines fell lifelessly to the ground, and so did Solvan body. Her head fell back as the Spell whispered:
[You have slain a Corrupted Monster: Vine Worm]
[You have slain a Transcendent Human: Solvan]
[Your Shadow grows stronger]
[Your Shadow grows stronger]
[You have received a Memory…]
"Your nightmare is over, Solvan. This torment has ended. I hope you find peace and solace within me."
A gloomy expression fell on Sunny's face as he looked once more at Solvan horrifying corpse. No human deserved to be tortured like this, even if they had sinned Sulvan's.
"Ah… this is over. Now, on to the Mimic."
Sunny stepped into the shadows effortlessly and appeared inside a room with a high ceiling, in the center of which were three large chests. The back wall of the room was missing, letting sunlight flood the room. When Sunny looked at the chests, one of them shook slightly, spilling many gold coins, but Sunny pretended not to notice.
Sunny gripped [Promise of Solace] tightly, then looked at the chest that had just moved. The chest was reinforced with dull metal bands, and its wooden planks were solid and well-joined despite a small part missing.
Sunny dismissed [Promise of solace] to calm the tense Nightmare creature. Then he approached it and stood above it. When he extended his gloved hand to grab one of the coins, the chest lunged forward, revealing massive teeth trying to snap shut on his arm.
"Not today, you idiot!"
Sunny had already prepared himself and slammed the chest down with his Underworld Mantle-covered fist, causing cracks to appear on its surface. The vile Mimic was thrown outside the ship, and Sunny followed it with a shadow step, emerging from its shadow. He punched the vile Mimic in the place where its head—or whatever—was supposed to be.
His fist shattered wood and metal, then touched something thin and disgusting. The vile Mimic rolled on the ground, then tried to get up and started running away frantically.
"He never changes… still a coward!"
Sunny summoned [Promise of Solace] again and took a big step through the shadows, appearing in front of the vile Mimic. He smiled wickedly at the monster, then slashed a dark cut through its body. The vile Mimic's body, sliced in half, collapsed to the ground while the Spell whispered:
[You have slain a Fallen Devil: Mordant Mimic]
[Your Shadow grows stronger]
[You have received a Memory: Chest of Greed]
"Well, that was very easy. Planning is a good thing!"
Sunny went over to the vile Mimic's corpse and began gathering the gold coins into a big pile. Then he summoned his new Memory. A small version of the vile Mimic appeared on his palm. However, this version had the shape of a small sitting chest and didn't move.
Sunny tossed the Memory to the ground, then the Chest of Greed lifted itself on thin limbs that emerged from underneath it and began moving toward the pile of coins, absorbing them all inside itself.
"You little guy… you're really cute!"
The chest stuck out a tiny tongue at him, which made him feel slightly disgusted.
"Ah, fine… I take that back. Come here—I've got a surprise for you."
The Chest of Greed approached him, while Sunny summoned a storage Memory and took out from it a white needle made of bone, shining with a golden glow that no one else could see. He wanted to turn this little guy into an Echo. Although the task was extremely difficult, he had the Spell to help him. He wouldn't need to complete the entire transformation; he could lay the foundation, and the Spell would handle the rest.
Sunny grabbed the Chest of Greed, then looked at its Weave. Four embers were burning brightly, while countless silver threads wove themselves around the four embers. Sunny sighed, then imbued the bone needle with shadow essence and began weaving. A black thread extended from the shadow essence, intertwining with the other silver threads like an intruder that didn't belong to the Weave. Then another thread joined, and another, and another.
The Serpent kept producing shadow essence in tandem with Sunny's expenditure, while his other shadows stood guard over him. He had a long task ahead of him and wouldn't leave the Weave for days.